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Pregnancy

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Original poster

Car seats for parents without cars? Is it worth it?

23 replies

Mithriltari · 13/07/2006 17:45

Hello ladies,

I am a mum to be in november and we have no car. Having said that, How am I going to get the baby home from the hospital without one? I know it's law from september on to have a car seat in place for any infant in a vehicle, but it just horrfies me to buy a car seat just for that date and the occassional time when we use taxis.
Some advice on this from ladies wiuth a similar experience will be greatly appreciated. I thought I'd be fit enough to walk home with the baby in the pushchair (those we can use from birth) ? It's only a 20 min walk but it will be cold and rainy...brrr

Mith

OP posts:

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janeggybee · 13/07/2006 17:55

it is a big expense!! i have a friend who was in same position as you. she borrowed one from someone else. do you know anyone who has one??

Tommy · 13/07/2006 18:15

Of course you can walk your baby home from hospital! If you have plenty of warm clothes and blankets and a rain cover it will be fine.
Or, if I were you I would try and borrow a car seat just for coming home. I don't know if they do it but I've always thought that the NCT could offer a service like this - perhaps you could try your local branch if you don't know anyone who has one?

treacletart · 13/07/2006 18:30

We don't have a car either (and proud of it too - saves us a bundle!) I do think carseats are essential even for the carless - we used a maxi cosi citi seat and a taxi chassis system when DS was little. Found the seat really useful even when we weren't in cars, as it's a nice carrier too. When he outgrew it we bought something similar to this . Lightweight and easy to fix in any car. Probably not the safest around but we're very rarely in cars with him.

southeastastra · 13/07/2006 18:31

you can go in a black cab! my bil took us home from hospital in his!

treacletart · 13/07/2006 18:38

thats true I think you can just wheel a ram onto a london style cab. But dont hospitals insist you leave the ward with a carseat? - Remember asking about this down here and they got very arsey about the prospect of us walking - as if we wanted to smuggle a carseatless baby into a car behing their backs. Of course you could always avoid the problem by having the baby at home - - DS's homebirth was unplanned but saved a bundle on fares!

treacletart · 13/07/2006 18:40

pram not ram

stitch · 13/07/2006 18:40

borrow one

southeastastra · 13/07/2006 18:40

i took my baby home out of the ward cuddling him in blankets, maybe it's changed that was nearly 5 years ago.

robinia · 13/07/2006 18:46

Where are you mithriltari? If you're near me you can have mine.

mustrunmore · 13/07/2006 18:59

I'd say it is worth owning one. We dont have a car, but have made lots of friends through having our boys, and go places in their cars quite alot. If you dont need it till October, I can give you ours as ds2 will be in a stage 2 by then. In fact, we have one in London, one in Warwickshire, and one in Shropshire!You'd be welcome to any of them if you keep me posted! L and S go to 15kg, the W one to 10kg.

littleducks · 13/07/2006 19:09

I do have a car but on two occasions in the past week have had to get a cab (minicab as no black cabs round here) and although we bought a seat classed as universal (mothercare own brand) it simply would not fit in one (i ended up walking to dr carrying baby in carseat in the rain not much fun!) and on the second when i had complained and requested a car with long seatbelts the car seat did fit but nowhere near as securely as in our own car.So if you do buy a carseat or borrow etc. for a cab its worth considering that it may not fit safely in the car sent to you and i believe its said that badly fitting carseats are as dangerous as none at all.
i also walked out of hosp with babe in arms and that was 2 months ago but i was instructed about car safety at the same time as contraception!

mustrunmore · 13/07/2006 19:35

We had a Graco car seat, and did find that it wouldn't fit in alot of cars. Butthe ones we have now have all been fine so far: Mothercare own, maxi cosi, and rock a tot. In my experience, its when you get to stage 2 ones that you start to have problems with them fitting properly.

Seona1973 · 13/07/2006 19:58

our hospital has a car seat loan scheme where you can get the loan of an infant carrier for a few months for a small fee + deposit. You could see if any similar schemes are in your area too.

Original poster

Mithriltari · 13/07/2006 20:39

Dear ladies,

I am sooo deeply grateful for all these insights and advice,and specially for your generosity: robinia and mustrunmore. I shall keep in touch.
I live in Manchester but I could go anywhere near to collect the car seat. I also have a good friend who lives in London, she will come for a visit in august, so there is an oportunity.
Many, many thanks for giving me peace of mind, as I am a first timer, things could get very confusing at times. Truly appreciated.

All the best,
Mith

OP posts:

robinia · 15/07/2006 14:04

My carseat goes to 9kg, it's Mothercare own brand and I'm in NW Kent/SE London.

NotQuiteCockney · 15/07/2006 14:30

I don't think the new law applies to taxi journeys, anyway - it's only to "usual" journeys.

We don't have a car, but we use a neighbour's sometimes, so we own car seats. As kids get bigger, you're more likely to send them to other people's houses, and need a car seat for that.

Newer black cabs have built-in car seats. So do Sharons (I think? It's some sort of people carrier thing ... we always get one for our airport trips, so we don't have to take car seats on holidays).

Harold · 15/07/2006 14:33

this is a good price for one

motherinferior · 15/07/2006 14:34

I kind of think it's sort of madly unlikely you'll feel like walking home, if you're still thinking about it. You might feel like walking a very small distance. Like to the loo.

Harold · 15/07/2006 14:37

£25 here

shoppingsecret · 15/07/2006 14:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Bozza · 15/07/2006 14:56

Yes MI I was rather that nobody picked up on the planned 20 min walk home for the mother rather than the baby. Baby fine to pram home, mother, hmm, highly unlikely. When DS was born I struggled to make it to the hospital car park and that was after staying in for 2 days and a "normal" vaginal birth.

pesme · 15/07/2006 15:47

hi, join freecycle (freecycle.org) people are always off loading car seats. (yes i know how do you know it hasn't been in an accident blahblah)

Asur · 15/07/2006 19:42

I'd agree that walk home might not be as easy as you think.. i had lots of ideas of what i'd be doing post-baby but soon realised reality is not as easy as pre-baby dreams

as for carseat, i have something similar to this - it's fairly cheap, quite easy to carry and it rocks so it's quite good little rocker in house.. My mum has a forward facing buggy at her house and i've also found that the carseat fits on that (clicks on playtray thing) which means we don't need to take our pram with us when we visit and my mum can see baby when pushing buggy Of course, if you haven't chosen a pram yet, you might want to look at travel systems - they seem very popular... Good luck!

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